I was right. No one is responding... I think I'm gonna cry. i need someone to talk to...

When the book is not based on scientific fact. Say a story about people with magical powers is fantasy. Sci-fi would be people with special powers that have been grafted into DNA.

That's how I think of it.

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Steal an idea and the universe will give the creator two in return. -Mrs. Litz

I don't know exactly where the line is drawn but as a general rule (and yes I know there are exceptions), fantasy is set in the past and sci-fi is set in the future.

Most science fiction will have some sort of technology or scientific explanation offered for the fantastical things that the characters can do where as fantasy will usually opt for the mystical or supernatural explanation for the exact same events.

'Any suffiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic' - I don't remember who said it but it's an apt description.

This sudden boom in the whole 'modern fantasy' genre - Jim Butcher, Laurell K. Hamilton, Lilith Saintcrow et al - are harder to categorise but they're usually considered fantasy just because of the magic explanations offers.

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_{Nothin' much happens on Monday / Monday!
Nothin' much happens on Tuesday / Tuesday!
I get paid on a Wednesday and by the weekend / It's all gone!}
- Butterfingers - Nothin' Much Happens

Don't cry! I'll respond in like 2 seconds after I've read the other responses.

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I am the terror that flaps in the night! I am the wingged scourge that pecks at your nightmares! I am Darkwing Duck!

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"Now, to separate science fiction from fantasy. This is impossible to do, and a moment's thought will show why. Take psionics; take mutants such as we find in Ted Sturgeon's wonderful MORE THAN HUMAN. If the reader believes that such mutants could exist, then he will view Sturgeon's novel as science fiction. If, however, he believes that such mutants are, like wizards and dragons, not possible, nor will ever be possible, then he is reading a fantasy novel. Fantasy involves that which general opinion regards as impossible; science fiction involves that which general opinion regards as possible under the right circumstances. This is in essence a judgment-call, since what is possible and what is not possible is not objectively known but is, rather, a subjective belief on the part of the author and of the reader."
-Philip K. Dick

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It’s so easy to laugh
It’s so easy to hate
It takes strength to be gentle and kind

I'd say, science fiction stories have a main theme that involves specuation about real life, and I guess it should be rooted in science too.

Star Trek and The Matrix is science fiction because it's a what-if scenearios. What if humans did find a way to travel through space and met aliens, would they explore it like Europe explored "new worlds" and what would they find? What if our reality is just an illusion? Who or what is controling that illusion and how would we fight back? It's not all realistic, there's corny fun mixed in, but the themese are sci fi. They both use real facts (well, sort of. Supposedly.) in thier stories- Star Trek with astronomy, and the Matrix with computers.

Star Wars I'd call fantasy (the movies at least), because it speculates nothing. The un-real elements like the Force and space travel are made up for the sake of the story and it's morals, but they aren't rooted in any kind of science. It doesn't even pretend to explain how its technology works, it just does. So I'd call Star Wars a space fantasy.

I guess they classify things like Star Wars as science fiction beause even thoug hit isn't *really* science ficiton, it is something that a lot of scifi fans would like, because of its setting.

And there are genras that mix sci-fi and fantsy both, have them both large parts of the story I mean (like His Dark Materials or Artemis Fowl). But a lot of other stories mix different genres, so there's no reason we shouldn't consider some books both scifi and fantsy.

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I am the terror that flaps in the night! I am the wingged scourge that pecks at your nightmares! I am Darkwing Duck!

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I was taught that sci-fi is something that could potentially happen in the future, while fantasy is out of the question, like unicorns.

Of course, I was the punk in the back row who raised her hand and speculated about the possibility of unicorns being genetically engineered in the future, and whether a book about such a thing would be sci-fi or fantasy... or possibly autobiographical...

...yes, i wanted to genetically engineer unicorns when i was a child, why do you ask?

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je ne sais pas...

I can actually see that, them engineering unicorns just for entertainment purpouses!

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I am the terror that flaps in the night! I am the wingged scourge that pecks at your nightmares! I am Darkwing Duck!

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Engineering unicorns.... The romans killing them all over again !

You see, where is the difference from shooting fire from a gun or from one's fingers? They achieve the same end, and who is to say that there wasn't a genetic mutation somewhere along the line that, through reproduction, spread throughout the human race, giving them power to control elements? DNA is no requirement, and neither are gadgets. After all, there could be a laser shooter implanted in my fingertips.